Steven Adams: The Art of the Roll

July 31, 2017

Linked below is one of my favorite hoops articles I’ve read in the last year or so. Sports Illustrated’s Rob Mahoney’s “The Craft” series is excellent and this piece on what makes Steven Adams such a prolific roller is the best one he’s done. Great stuff in here on the pick & roll dynamic between Adams & Westbrook, the positioning tweak Adams made in squaring up to the ball on his roll, and Adams’ reads on the catch.

Squaring up to the ball made Adams more viable. There are times where it still makes the most
sense for an athletic 7–footer to make a play for the rim, particularly when the offense has built
in the space for it. The very threat of that action is valuable. Part of the reason Adams is
involved on a much more consistent basis, however, is that now when he rolls, he does so
sideways. Adams lines up his entire body toward Westbrook—shuffling along as Westbrook
shook his way through.